The Republican leaders of the House may call the GMO-in-food disclosure bill for a vote as early as Wednesday, the last hurdle before sending the bill to the White House to be signed into law. The advocacy group Just Label It, which opposes the bill but considers passage certain, said “the fight for national mandatory GMO transparency now shifts to USDA and the marketplace.”
The disclosure bill, written by Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts and the senior Democrat on the panel, Debbie Stabenow, passed the Senate on a 62-30 roll call last week. It pre-empts state GMO food-labeling laws and gives foodmakers the option of using a symbol, a digital code or wording on food packages to alert consumers to GMO ingredients. The House passed a pre-emption bill last summer that would have kept labeling voluntary at the national level.
Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo, sponsor of the House GMO bill, HR 1599, urged House colleagues to support the Roberts-Stabenow bill. The bill “may not be my ideal solution,” said Pompeo but it allows farmers to use genetically engineered seed. Almost all of the corn, soybeans and sugar beets grown in the country are GMO varieties, meaning the vast majority of processed food sold in supermarkets contains GMOs.
House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway said “it is my intention to support” the Roberts-Stabenow bill, but “I will never fully support federally mandating the disclosure of information that has absolutely nothing to do with nutrition, health or safety.”
Conaway raised the same objections as critics of the GMO-disclosure bill, although for different reasons. Both sides say the bill is vaguely written and gives USDA too much leeway in designing the labeling system. Opponents fear USDA will write a narrow definition of GMO food, which could result in tens of thousands of products being exempt from labeling despite the fact that they contain GMOs. Conaway said he was wary of overly intrusive regulations.
The House Rules Committee scheduled a meeting on Tuesday to set the terms of debate on the Roberts-Stabenow bill, a preliminary but vital step toward debate. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy listed the bill among six pieces of legislation for consideration on Wednesday, or in the following two days. Congress is scheduled to adjourn on Friday for the summer, returning after Labor Day.
“Companies should think twice before they remove GMO labels from their packages,” said Gary Hirshberg, leader of Just Label it. “Pro-GMO labeling efforts now need to focus on effective implementation that delivers what all consumers want and deserve.
“While we regret that Vermont’s landmark labeling law will now be postponed, it is now certain that within a few years, every GMO food will carry an on-package disclosure,” said Hirshberg, whose group campaigned for “made with GMOs” wording on packages.
Vermont was the first nation to implement a GMO food-labeling law, on July 1. It requires wording on the package of food made with GMOs.